The F-15 fighter pilots from the US have recounted how they ran out of air-to-air missiles and switched to guns during the massive Iranian attack on Israel. In April this year, Iran fired more than 300 drones, ballistic and cruise missiles on Israel, a far larger strike than the US military anticipated.
Major Benjamin “Irish” Coffey, an F-15 fighter pilot, has recalled how he was not expecting to run out of missiles while taking on the Iranian attack.
While they were instructed to use every weapon at their disposal to help Israel, Major Coffey and his crew-mate, weapons systems officer Captain Lacie “Sonic” Hester soon came up with a plan when they ran out of air-to-air missiles.
They recalled how they flew as close as they could to an Iranian drone — way below the minimum safe altitude for the F-15 Strike Eagle — and used a gun against a target that was barely visible. This was an extremely dangerous maneuver for the pilots in total darkness. However, they still ended up missing the target.
“You feel the terrain rush, you feel yourself getting closer and closer to the ground. The risk was just too high to try again," Major Coffey told CNN.
In the end, the US forces, both in the air as well as at sea, were able to intercept 70 drones and three ballistic missiles during the attack, which was largely thwarted.
This was the US Air Force's maiden “real test” against a prolonged and large-scale drone attack as the fighters spent multiple hours in the air that night.
The situation was equally chaotic at the undisclosed US military base in the Middle East as the air defenses there had shot down Iranian missiles and drones overhead, while troops were rushed to bunkers.
The attack by Iran was in retaliation for Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate building in Syria, leaving several members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps dead.
Captain Hester said that when they were getting briefed that night, they "had no idea” about what could have happened.
Sharing his thoughts, F-15 pilot Lieutenant Colonel Timothy “Diesel” Causey added that they did not have much time before then to practice. He went on to call the attack drones a "low cost, low risk for the enemy to employ."
The weapons of the fighter jets were depleted quickly as the F-15E Strike Eagle is able to carry only eight air-to-air missiles at a time. “We ran out of missiles pretty quickly…20 minutes maybe," said F-15 pilot Lieutenant Colonel Curtis “Voodoo” Culver.
